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Monday, February 8, 2010

Building a Better Burrito

I admit it, I am a recovering Grilled Stuft Burrito (GSB) addict. I used to love them but I haven't been to Taco Bell since before I started changing my eating habits. And after digging around for nutrition information on their site, I'm not sure I'm ever going back. Here is the nutrition information and ingredients in a GSB made with chicken, directly from Taco Bell's site.Calories~650 Fat~24 fat grams (mostly hydrogenated or partially, anyway)Carbohydrate~77 gramsSodium~ 2180 (just under the RDA for an entire day)Fiber~9 gramsProtein~34 grams

Holy merde! Did you have any idea the amount of crap contained in one fast food item? I'm shocked but shouldn't be. Fast food companies don't have our health interests are heart. I know I can do better with a grilled stuffed burrito, filling and tasty to satisfy the mouth and highly nutritious to satisfy the body.

I started with a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious low carb tortilla. Honestly, they are not good. Tasteless with bad texture but are transformed into something truly tasty after just a few minutes in the George Foreman.

Then I layered on some herb salad blend. I always keep baby greens around to stuff into sandwiches. It's a painless way to get extra veggies. It also acts as insulation to keep the tortilla from going soggy.

I made a batch of the most delicious chili (I'll post the recipe later because it's really worth trying.) It came out so rich and thick, I knew it would be an amazing filling for my burrito.

Then the garnishes. You could put whatever you have in the fridge, sour cream, leftover grains, anything. I put cilantro, a squeeze of lime, 1/4 of a creamy, ripe Haas avocado and a few dashes of Sriracha hot sauce.

Wrapped it up, grilled it up and gobbled it up.

Doesn't that look good? It was full of yum and full of good stuff, too...

Calories~331 (half the calories of the GSB)Fat~ 16 grams (mostly from avocado which is a fat that you want your body to have)Carbohydrates~37 grams (a savings of 40 grams)Sodium~ 450 milligramsProtein~22 gramsFiber~19 grams (10 bonus grams!)

Wow, that list of ingredients is stunning. Ick! And I used to love T. Bell. No wonder we called it Bag of Death in college. Thanks for your burrito recipe - looks very yummy! And keep up the great writing, Andra - I've gotten addicted to your blog. (This is Suzy from EL.)